Without the acquired knowledge embedded in our culture, we would be little more than an unusually intelligent ape.

What makes us that which we are is DNA plus enculturation and experience.

Kudos for Metacognition. How wonderful "that nonhuman primates, especially great apes and rhesus monkeys, exhibit metacognitive control and monitoring behaviors." [en.wikipedia.org] By contrast, I've often considered the possibility that violence-prone bigots and right-wing conspiracy theorists may have the mental condition Cognitive-attentional syndrome ( CAS ), in that "low levels of attentional control are also thought to increase chances of developing a psychopathology, because the ability to shift one's focus away from threat information is important in processing emotions." In other words, those whose brains have not learned metacognitive control cannot adapt reasonably and intelligently to stressful, socially complex situations. [sciencedirect.com]